Shuffle a barrel of pirate monkeys in the demo for promising deckbuilding RPG Cross Blitz

Pixelated card battle from the game Cross Blitz
(Image credit: Tako Boy Studios)

A promising upcoming deckbuilder surfaced during the Steam Next Fest last week: Cross Blitz is a whimsically cartoonish pixelated deckbuilding RPG that aims to incorporate both a plot-driven story mode and a roguelike mode. 

A demo, out now, lets you take on a chapter of the story mode as pirate Redcroft. You take some time fighting against other pirates and learn about the deck customization. The story itself isn't very intrusive, mostly just serving up little cutscenes between battles. The full version promises a roguelike mode better suited to those whose real passion is in drafting, or who want to keep on playing post-story.

The game itself is a minion-driven battle where your two rows of minions attack their opposite side counterparts each round. Keeping a front of strong minions up is essential, because unblocked minions deal damage directly to the enemy's health. Card Blitz uses the Hearthstone style of resources: Each turn you get a set amount, increasing every round. Characters also have Blitz Bursts, powerful effects they're working towards over a match—like playing six of a minion type to trigger a burst of damage against every enemy minion.

I was pretty impressed by the variety of decks buildable in just the demo. I could make a deck that synergized playing more cards with the Pirate keyword, one based on playing minions to fire cannons and plant bombs, and one based on creating a snowball of ever-escalating "pyro" damage. I also bought and equipped relics, permanent gear that synergizes with cards even more. I bought one that buffed every Pirate card I played, while another boosted my armor for every Bomb card I put in my opponent's deck.

It's a game you should try the demo for if you, like me, are intrigued by the sentence "fast-paced tactical combat with loads of cards to collect and synergies to wield." I love nothing if not wielding a synergy.

You can find the Cross Blitz Demo on Steam. The full game doesn't yet have a release date. Card Blitz is developed by Tako Boy Studios and published by The Arcade Crew and Gamera Games, who also published this year's out-of-early-access tactical RPG The Last Spell.

Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.

Read more
A spellcaster and muscular barbarian face down against an army of skeletons.
This 'overwhelmingly positive' Steam Next Fest autobattler demo feels like someone bolted a Path of Exile-style map onto Halls of Torment, and I fear for my future productivity
A mountain block dropping into place in Drop Duchy.
Drop Duchy is an unholy fusion of city builder, roguelike deckbuilder, and Tetris, and you can try it for free right now
A robot destroying the opposing castle with its laser eyes in Castle V Castle.
You've got to try these 5 brilliant free roguelike deckbuilder game demos before Steam NextFest ends on March 3
Monster Train 2 screenshot
Choo choo, here comes Monster Train 2: One of our favorite deckbuilders is getting a sequel and you can play a demo today
A game of Mahjong
Of all the Balatro-likes on Steam, I think I'm enjoying this Mahjong version best
An anime lady with big hair and a spaceship in the background
Chase sticky-fingered dragons across the cosmos (or just fly around, ramming spaceships) in this sci-fi deckbuilder
Latest in Adventure
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
A motley crew riding out in point-and-click adventure Rosewater
Promising '90s style point-and-clicker Rosewater rides out today, featuring trail-worn cowpoke authors and weird alt-universe science
It's ENA! From the free adventure Dream BBQ!
Mindbending free multimedia adventure ENA: Dream BBQ is out now, has activated all my neurons and opened my third eye
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
An image of a corpse with the text "You've been re-educated."
I played the lost videogame sequel to 1984, and came away more nostalgic than ever for gaming's awkward adolescence in 1999
Rosella encounters a satyr in a forest in King's Quest 4
Eagle-eyed streamer spots that Roberta Williams' portrait in King's Quest 4 is based on her author photo on the back of the game box: 'I never noticed it before.'
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'